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A steady stream of people—Lantern Men, politicians, emissaries from tributary clans and No Peak’s overseas offices—arrived over the following weeks to pay respect and allegiance to Kaul Nikoyan. Some in the clan didn’t take well to the pledge of friendship with their old enemies, or were skeptical of Niko’s youth, inexperience, personal demeanor, and past failings—but the sentiments never rose to anything above grumbling. No one could dispute that Kaul Hilo had chosen his nephew as his successor, and with Hilo’s longtime Weather Man and Horn both standing behind the new Pillar, the clan soon fell into line.
Ten days after the funeral, Ayt Ato appeared at the Kaul estate accompanied only by a pair of bodyguards and asked to speak with the Pillar of No Peak. This was a remarkable occurrence. Ordinarily, a meeting between two Pillars of comparable status would be formally arranged on neutral ground by the clans’ Weather Men. For one Pillar to present himself at another’s home and request an audience like any ordinary petitioner was a sign of debasement.
Shae watched her nephew greet the other Pillar in the foyer. “Ayt Ato-jen.”
“Kaul-jen.” Ato’s handsome face was worn down. The tiny jade studs over his eyebrows accentuated not his eyes but the dark hollows underneath them. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I’ve decided to reclaim my maternal family name of Koben. It’s the name I grew up with. When I was positioned as the future leader of the clan, I was never consulted on the choice to go by the name of Ayt. In truth, I’ve never felt any personal connection to that name.”
Niko nodded. He glanced toward the study, but Shae could see his reluctance to go into that room. Hilo had been the same way at first, when it had still felt wrong to sit in Lan’s space. “Would you like to walk outside, Koben-jen?”
Out in the garden, the damp chill of approaching winter was in the air, and the late season chrysanthemums were in full bloom. Slim, wind-plucked petals of white, red, and gold floated atop the still pond. Niko glanced at Shae, wordlessly asking his Weather Man to accompany him as they took Koben Ato along the pebbled path around the grounds. She did so at a slight distance, close enough to hear the conversation, but not so close as to join it. She didn’t feel capable of talking to anyone, not yet. At times, she felt Niko was doing a better job of shouldering his new role as Pillar than she was in occupying her old one as Weather Man.
“I must be the first person in the Mountain clan to receive a personal tour of the Kaul estate,” Ato said. “It’s as nice as I imagined.”
“I haven’t been to the Ayt residence myself,” Niko said, “but I’ve heard it’s equally impressive.” It was a strange sight, the two young Pillars strolling through the garden together, Niko casually pointing out this and that about the houses and the landscaping as Ato nodded in appreciation. It was nothing like a proper meeting of clan leaders, but perhaps it was what was needed in the moment. Their first attempt had ended in unfathomable tragedy; this was something else.
At last, they circled back to where they had begun, in the courtyard of the main house. Ato turned to face the other Pillar. “Kaul-jen,” he said, “I’m sincerely sorry for your loss. Your uncle was always a ruthless enemy of my clan, but no one can dispute that he was a great Green Bone warrior. That day, he saved my life and lost his own.”
“I’m sorry for the losses on your side as well.” Niko didn’t say more. Shae thought perhaps he should’ve, but either he couldn’t make himself talk about that day more than necessary, or he was deliberately holding back, waiting to hear what the other man had to say. Perhaps both. His expression gave nothing away, and Shae suspected that his jade aura didn’t either.
Ato said, “I’m sure you already know that Iwe Kalundo took his own life. Ayt Mada has been stripped of jade and confined in a secret location, under guard by Green Bones loyal to my family, for her protection as well as ours.” Ato’s face moved in a brief, involuntary contortion. “The Mountain is in a state of shock and disarray. I’m afraid it’s broken somewhere deep inside. At this point, I’m not sure what will become of the clan and whether it’s even worth saving.”
It was an astonishing statement to make. Who could ever recall any Pillar uttering such a thing? What Green Bone leader would admit he’d lost control of his own warriors, failed to maintain authority over his clan?
Perhaps, however, Koben Ato was simply tired of denying what was becoming increasingly obvious to everyone. The Mountain clan was riven. Although most of its members condemned Ayt Mada’s shocking attempted coup, they did not necessarily flock enthusiastically to support the Kobens, who were seen by some as imprudent and divisive. Ato, for all his years in the public eye, had not been given much latitude by his Pillar, and thus did not have many personal accomplishments to suggest he was a strong and visionary enough leader to command widespread loyalty and rebuild the clan’s tarnished image in the wake of so much accumulated shame and carnage.